East of Eden Project

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Transcript of East of Eden Project

East of Eden pgs 149-190 by Hamilton Connor and Zaria Watkins Introduction Quotes Questions Characters Vocabulary Purpose Synopsis This passage begins with a chapter about Steinbeck's tenacious mother, Olive. It then focuses on Adam's efforts to make Cathy happy with a personal "Eden" despite her obvious indifference. In this process he enlists the help of Samuel to help dig wells and later help Cathy give birth. Quote # 2 "When I said Cathy was a monster it seemed to me that it was so. Now I have bent close with a glass over the small print of her and reread the footnotes, and I wonder if it is true." (pg. 161) Quote # 1 "Pidgin they expect, and pidgin they'll listen to. But English from me they don't listen to, and so they don't understand it."(pg. 182) Question # 1 Answer: Question #2 Why does Steinbeck include the chapter on his mother, Olive? Why does Lee speak Pidgin? Lee speaks in Pidgin in response to the people around him, who expect him to be unable to speak proper English because is Chinese. When he does speak English he is viewed as "untrustworthy" and his friends "[steer] clear of him". People do not "listen" to him. Speaking in Pidgin is a "convien[t]" way of "self-protection" from racial tension. Answer: Olive is included to provide an example of a good mom in juxtaposition to Cathy. Olive was deathly afraid of planes yet she was willing to face her fear to make her children happy. She saw “the shining idolatry” in her kid’s eyes and didn't want to “let her family down” and went on the plane ride despite “her soul [crawling] with horror” (151). Cathy tried to abort her twins and stated she would leave them "as soon as [she] can" (173). Question #3 Why are Lee and Samuel such good friends? Answer: Samuel is very open minded he "see[s] what is" unlike most who only "see what they expect". He is able to really look at Lee and see that they have a lot in common. They both see through Cathy and make her "uncomfortable"They both feel compelled to act a certain way around others. Lee uses "pidgin and [has a] que" despite being born and educated in America. Samuel fulfills the Irish stereotype of being"happy people, full of jokes" even "when the sadness is on [him]" (163). They are comforted by the fact that they don't have to act around each other. Threshing (thre-sheeing), pg 149 to separate the grain or seeds from (a cereal plant or the like)by some mechanical means, as by beating with a flail or by the action of a threshing machine. “There were some sports, of course, like Samuel Hamilton, and he was tolerated and liked, but if he had not been able to dig a well, shoe a horse, or run a threshing machine, God knows what would have been thought of the family.” mnemonic device: thresh sounds like thrash, a common method of separating grain is thrashing it with a flail or a machine that thrashes the product. Men thrashing at wheat to seperate the the grain. Shrapnel (shrap-nl), pg 151 A hollow projectile containing small bullets or pellets designed to explode before reaching its target releasing a shower of missiles “We were proud but not proud as when prizes began to arrive, a German helmet (too small for any of us to wear), a bayonet, a jagged piece of shrapnel set on an ebony base.” mnemonic device: shrap sounds like scrap. a shrapnel are sharp pieces of scrap metal to wound victims. Bullet vs. shrapnel.

ouch. Scattergun method (skat-er guhn meth-ud) pg 149 A method of addressing an issue using many different possible solutions with hope that something will work.

“As she grew older she developed a scattergun method for dealing with unpleasant facts.” mnemonic device: Think of a hunter who fires many shots from his scattergun, or shotgun, in order to hit one bird The scattergun fires many projectiles in hope of atleast one will hit the target. Pidgin (pij-uhn) pg 164 A simplified or broken form of a language formed, reduced vocabulary and grammar structure. Formed by speakers of two different languages trying to communicate

Lee went on, “It’s going to be a relief after that to go back to pidgin”. mnemonic device: Pidgin sounds like Pigeon. Pigeons are not very graceful and the Pidgin language is also lacks grace This passage is important to the book becasue it helps with the character development of Lee, Samuel, Adam and Cathy. Lee This is the passage that reveals that Lee is a native born American, yet is pressured by society to act foreign. People ar unable to "seperate [their] observation from [their] preconception" (161) Samuel Adam Cathy This passage further demonstrates that Samuel sees the good in others. He decides that he likes Adam and is willing to help him. Even though he senses "somthing is wrong" during the "silent" dinner at the Trask home. (171) It also continues the Genesis Theme setting up the scene for the next Cain and Abel Adam's metaphorical role in the novel shifts in this passage from Abel to his namesake Adam. He begins to make a his own personal "garden" of "Eden" although decides not to include "apples". As a character in this passage Adam continues to be blind to Cathy's true nature. Despite her clearly stating that she "will go" away from him. He envisions her as "Eve" content in life and so perfect that she would "rejoice in [his] desicion not to include apples (tempation) in his garden. Although Cathy does not say or do much in this passage the reader's understanding of her is expanded. She is put in stark comparison to Olive, who represents a good mother Samuel connects her to a criminal he saw when he was young who like Cathy didnt have humanlike eyes and did "dreadful things"pg 176 Lee tells Samuel that Cathy's labor was not like human labor but rather a "bitter, deadly combat" (pg187) Olive Hamilton Lee There is a whole chapter devoted solely to her. Olive is Steinbeck's compassionate mother. She loved and trusted her kids she didn't even believe a "bad Hamilton" was possible. She hate nursed Steinbeck from an awful bout of "pnemonea" and sold many "war bonds" in honor of her neigbor "Martin Hopps" Me talkee Chinese talke ch 15 Question #4: This passage gives insight on who Lee really is. He is not a two dimensional character, but is very complex. He chooses to be a servant despite being very intelligent because "a good servant can control his master"He undesrtands the power that comes with a seemingly menial job. Cathy “never want[ed] to come” she just needed to escape from her past. Adam was a ticket to safety on the opposite coast. Where she could be unrecognized. She has no feelings for Adam or her unborn children, she is just waiting for her pregnancy the hiccup in her plan to be over. Why did Cathy want to leave?